Alannah Hill steps away from brand that bears her name

By Rachel Wells

August 15, 2013 — 10.10am

One of Australia’s most famous and colourful fashion designers, Alannah Hill, is walking away from the fashion brand she launched 18 years ago.

In a statement released on Thursday morning, the designer announced she had terminated her employment with Factory X, the Melbourne-based business run by David Heeney which has financially backed the brand for 16 years.

Over and out: Designer Alannah Hill.Credit:Justin McManus

Factory X will continue to operate the 42 Alannah Hill stores nationwide. However, Ms Hill will not design for, or have any further input into, the brand that bears her name.

Ms Hill has not returned phone calls from Fairfax Media and a spokeswoman for the designer said she would not be doing interviews at present because it was a ‘‘sensitive legal matter’’.

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Alannah Hill is stepping away from the brand that bears her name.Credit:Rebecca Hallas

Fairfax Media is also seeking comment from Factory X.

In a statement, Ms Hill said: “I am deeply saddened to make this monumental decision. I was completely devoted to my label and all that it represents to girls Australia-wide.

‘‘My heart, my soul, my every little thing has been poured into creating a brand for girls who love and share my vision of ornamental, sensational and beautiful clothes.’’

The Tasmanian-born designer is renowned for her own signature doll-like, girlish look and has famously insisted she has never been seen without full make-up, not even by a boyfriend.

Ms Hill’s girlie persona – all frills, florals, beads, bows and lace – have been a trademark of the Alannah Hill label since its inception. Even the retail assistants in Alannah Hill’s stores channel the designer’s unique style.

In the statement, Ms Hill alluded that she would not be quitting the fashion industry.

"I won’t be taking a “well-earned break”, nor will I be going on safari," the statement said. "My dream is to continue to create fashion that radiates joy and the power of transformation, not just in fashion but in life itself."

Ms Hill is one of Australian fashion’s most eccentric and outrageous personalities who has courted her share of controversy.

I am deeply saddened to make this monumental decision. I was completely devoted to my label and all that it represents to girls Australia-wide.

In 2010, she was forced to apologise when, during the height of the David Jones sexual harassment scandal, she told journalists at the department store’s spring fashion show that she ‘‘wished’’ former DJs CEO Mark McInnes had ‘‘touched me up’’.

"I threw myself at him .. He told me he didn’t want to mix business with pleasure,’’ she joked.

She later held a ‘‘Sorry Sale’’ and raised almost $180,000 for the White Ribbon Foundation.

A year earlier she received death threats after protesters were upset by her continued use of rabbit fur in her collections.

Ms Hill grew up on an apple orchard then in a milk bar in Penguin in Tasmania and had brief stints in the Ashton Circus and as a topless barmaid before moving to Melbourne where she landed a job in the fashion industry.

She first worked as a retail assistant at Chapel Street boutique Indigo where she soon started her own label, Alannah Hill for Indigo.

She left to launch her own label in 1995 and in 1997 went into business with Factory X after a previous financial backer went bankrupt.

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Factory X is behind a handful of successful Melbourne fashion brands including Dangerfield, Gorman and Jack London - the menswear brand founded by Karl Bartl, the father of Hill’s son.